Places we have Been

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

China Ranch Date farm, an Oasis in the desert

The early morning sunrises are wonderful, about 6 am. And as the sun rises so does the temperature. The usual walkabouts, then we getting ready to head out for a day trip.
Today we gonna take a day trip, desert drive to China Ranch, about an hour away, for the link to China Ranch click HERE . Not many roads to choose from, just get on the road and go. We hit the road at 8:30 am.
About an hour each way and luckily there was a few signs to point the way. Really an Oasis in the desert. Once there we were amazed. Sure glad we did not take the motorhome here it would have been a tough drive, if not impossible.

this the place

very narrow steep roads to get there

interesting historywhat an amazing discovery

Nothing real fancy just a family run operation that seems to be successful. Nice gift shop, free date samples (did not know there was so many different types of dates). And some wonderful homemade bakes goods too. All with dates.

love the old truck

lots of samples and they are all good

We bought a date/nut loaf (just like my grandmother made so long ago) and some fresh dates.

The gift shop was interesting, but nothing we could not do without.

Now some interesting information about the date trees. We drove about the orchards and so many acres with hundreds of different kinds as well. There is so many wonderful hiking trails here, if you are a hiker. But not for us, probably a few years ago, but not any more.

so close to Death Valley too

Harvesting the dateswhite bags over the dates as theymature, to keep the birds away

we saw this wild coyote a few timeswandering about

checked out the Modest Museumsome old history and pictures of the past

interesting arch on the steep road back out

Passed through Tecopa and the rv parks with Hot Springs, almost looks like a ghost town,

Then a stop in Shoshone, no crowds today. Small village population 31.

The famous Crowbar Cafe / Saloon

We had hoped to check out the museum here, but just happens to be closed today, Tuesday.

museum closed today

Now we back home by noon for lunch. A walkabout, pick up a few groceries. Cut my hair and beard (Suzie does the final trimming) the enjoyed a very nice 82f afternoon in the shade getting some more quality reading time done.

we both enjoy reading

Now because of the time changes sunset here happens at 4:45pm an early supper so I can BBQ not in total darkness.
Tonight a couple fish burgers on our grill mat with a salad.

perfect meal to end a wonderful day

89.3 miles return that we did today

Sure glad that we took the time to check out the China Ranch ( Oasis in the desert), it is amazing. And we learned quite a bit about dates as well.

Interesting area. Going to have to take a trip to see it. Last time I was in the Palm Springs CA area, noticed that the date trees there were newer hybrids, where the trees were smaller, so the harvesting and maintenance could be done without cherry pickers.

A reader of ours suggested that we stop by there but we hadn't gotten the message until early the next morning and we had already passed by it. At that point in time we were on a time schedule to get back to Canada for our May 1st start at the park. Looks really interesting and hopefully we will make it there one day in the future. Glad you enjoyed your time there.